Orange County gets to keep its 714 area code while the swelling Inland Empire will have a new 909 code to put on checkbooks, business cards and stationery under a decision announced Wednesday by regional phone companies. The new plan takes affect Nov. 14, 1992, but phone users will have a nine-month grace period to get accustomed to the new digits. During that transition, callers can use either area code. After that, they will have to "please try your call again."

The swelling Inland Empire and some parts of eastern Los Angeles County will be assigned a new area code--909--in November, 1992, to help deal with the dwindling supply of telephone numbers in the 714 zone, telephone company officials announced Wednesday. All parts of Orange County now in the 714 area will remain there. A small portion of the county is in the 213 zone.

Faced with a shortage of phone numbers because of rapid growth in Orange County and the Inland Empire, GTE and Pacific Bell officials have decided to carve a new area code out of the existing 714 area, officials said Monday. Phone company officials said they will announce today who among the region's 4.7 million customers will be affected by the split when it takes effect in January, 1993.

Orange County gets to keep its 714 area code while the swelling Inland Empire will have a new 909 code to put on checkbooks, business cards and stationery under a decision announced Wednesday by regional phone companies. The new plan takes affect Nov. 14, 1992, but phone users will have a nine-month grace period to get accustomed to the new digits. During that transition, callers can use either area code. After that, they will have to "please try your call again."

Faced with a dwindling supply of phone numbers because of the region's rapid growth, GTE and Pacific Bell officials have decided to carve a new area code out of the existing 714 zone now used by much of Orange County and the Inland Empire, officials said Monday. But don't throw away your business cards and stationery just yet. Phone company officials, who will announce plans for splitting up the area code today, say they still aren't sure just who will lose 714--and who will retain it.

Newport Beach (714), a glitzy magazine for the rich and famous, won't have to worry about its masthead becoming irrelevant. And the high school kids on Orange County's 714 All-Star team don't have to send their jerseys back for new logos just yet. They are among the lucky ones who get to keep their area code.

The swelling Inland Empire and some parts of eastern Los Angeles County will be assigned a new area code--909--in November, 1992, to help deal with the dwindling supply of telephone numbers in the 714 zone, telephone company officials announced Wednesday. All parts of Orange County now in the 714 area will remain there. A small portion of the county is in the 213 zone.

For 30 years cattle rancher Bob Ausmus fought to bring basic telephone service to his hometown of Cima (pop. 20) and neighboring outposts in the distant eastern corner of San Bernardino County. Living without a phone, Ausmus argued, was not only inconvenient but dangerous, leavingthe widely scattered residents of the eastern Mojave Desert without a way to summon help in the event of a rattlesnake bite, car accident or other emergency. Last week, Ausmus proved his point with chilling clarity.

Call it Area Code Anxiety. Almost as bad as the prospect of moving, it's the threat that Ma Bell's evil offspring may yank away your old familiar 714 area code and reclassify you--and half the people in your Rolodex--as a 909. Unpleasant anticipation washed over Orange County on Tuesday, with many residents praying that "they" would do it to Riverside and San Bernardino counties instead. "You're kidding! You're kidding! Oh, my gosh! How're they going to divide it up?"

For millions of residents and businesses in the Inland Empire and the eastern tip of Los Angeles County, 1993 is likely to bring a new number to memorize: 909. That is the new area code proposed--and favored--Tuesday by officials at GTE California and Pacific Bell in a plan to answer a shrinking supply of seven-digit numbers in the booming 714 region. Under a first-time review process mandated by a new state law, the phone companies will hold public hearings on three proposals Nov.

Newport Beach (714), a glitzy magazine for the rich and famous, won't have to worry about its masthead becoming irrelevant. And the high school kids on Orange County's 714 All-Star team don't have to send their jerseys back for new logos just yet. They are among the lucky ones who get to keep their area code.

Call it Area Code Anxiety. Almost as bad as the prospect of moving, it's the threat that Ma Bell's evil offspring may yank away your old familiar 714 area code and reclassify you--and half the people in your Rolodex--as a 909. Unpleasant anticipation washed over Orange County on Tuesday, with many residents praying that "they" would do it to Riverside and San Bernardino counties instead. "You're kidding! You're kidding! Oh, my gosh! How're they going to divide it up?"

For millions of residents and businesses in the Inland Empire and the eastern tip of Los Angeles County, 1993 is likely to bring a new number to memorize: 909. That is the new area code proposed--and favored--Tuesday by officials at GTE California and Pacific Bell in a plan to answer a shrinking supply of seven-digit numbers in the booming 714 region. Under a first-time review process mandated by a new state law, the phone companies will hold public hearings on three proposals Nov.

Faced with a shortage of phone numbers because of rapid growth in Orange County and the Inland Empire, GTE and Pacific Bell officials have decided to carve a new area code out of the existing 714 area, officials said Monday. Phone company officials said they will announce today who among the region's 4.7 million customers will be affected by the split when it takes effect in January, 1993.

Faced with a dwindling supply of phone numbers because of the region's rapid growth, GTE and Pacific Bell officials have decided to carve a new area code out of the existing 714 zone now used by much of Orange County and the Inland Empire, officials said Monday. But don't throw away your business cards and stationery just yet. Phone company officials, who will announce plans for splitting up the area code today, say they still aren't sure just who will lose 714--and who will retain it.

For 30 years cattle rancher Bob Ausmus fought to bring basic telephone service to his hometown of Cima (pop. 20) and neighboring outposts in the distant eastern corner of San Bernardino County. Living without a phone, Ausmus argued, was not only inconvenient but dangerous, leavingthe widely scattered residents of the eastern Mojave Desert without a way to summon help in the event of a rattlesnake bite, car accident or other emergency. Last week, Ausmus proved his point with chilling clarity.